


Intellectual Pursuits

by Cardinal_Daughter



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anal Sex, Emotional Sex, Established Relationship, Fluff, Intimacy, Kissing, M/M, Other, Smut, Temporary Character Death, spoilers for episode 26
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-10-04 08:51:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17301599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cardinal_Daughter/pseuds/Cardinal_Daughter
Summary: “I’m not a book, Caleb.”“No,” Caleb agrees. “I devour books; I want to indulge in you.”





	Intellectual Pursuits

**Author's Note:**

> Set at some unspecified point in the future. 
> 
> Vague spoilers through episode 43. 
> 
> Molly is non-binary but uses male pronouns. 
> 
> Apologies for any errors. Hope you enjoy!

**Intellectual Pursuits**

 

It is a well known fact amongst the members of the Mighty Nein that Caleb is a fast reader. In moments of downtime, if he isn’t holding onto Frumpkin he’s holding a book, and sometimes he manages to do both at once. He reads at an almost alarming speed, so quickly, in fact, that Beau has even purchased books, read them ahead of time, and then given them to Caleb so she can quiz him after a mere fifteen minutes of perusal.

He never misses a question.

His reading habits have been the source of much teasing with the group, especially when Caleb looks up after an undisclosed amount of time of undisturbed reading to see someone has stacked a number of miscellaneous objects all over his person, or they’ve traveled several miles and have left him on the cart while they make camp, or his entire watch shift has passed.

But then his reading has saved their skins more than once.

He’s had to read spells and runes and riddles in more than one dungeon with ridiculous speed to help the Mighty Nein defeat monsters and escape trapped rooms. He’s had to speed read documents on quickly failing stealth missions so that he can recite them verbatim to their contact. He’s had to stay up an entire night breaking and translating a cipher so they could walk away from a pirate island, but he tries not to dwell on that one. He can still hear the sickening snap of Avantika’s neck.

Caleb is studious, they all tease, though some nights they are more grateful for that fact than others. He’s the Reader of the group, the one they pass all the letters and secrets and books to, because they know it’s where he excels.

And Caleb enjoys it. Knowledge is power and power is necessary to do what he needs to do, and he is a greedy man who will absorb as much information as he can get, as quickly as he can get it. He can speed read through the thickest, dullest tomes, and he can do so with the same enthusiasm as he devours smutty novels and spell books. And he does it every spare moment he has.

Tonight, however. Tonight Caleb is in no mood for books, nor is he in the mood to speed things along. Tonight, Caleb desires to go slow. There is no need to rush, and Caleb wants to take his time with this particular course of study- by far his absolute favorite of everything he’s ever committed to memory.

Molly is lying beneath him on the bed in their room at the Leaky Tap, patchwork jacket neatly folded on the desk nearby and boots drying by the fireplace. Caleb straddles his thighs, calloused hands gently brushing through Molly’s curls, fingers catching on a few tangles before he leans over and presses a kiss to the base of one horn, then the other. He breathes, and the scent of sweet peas, leather, and earth fill his nose.

Beneath him, Molly shivers, and a small gasp of delight escapes the tiefling’s lips. Caleb stores the sound away, memorizing each and every little detail of this encounter, as he has with every one before.

Below him, Molly’s hands have rucked up Caleb’s shirt, and warm fingers are playfully tickling his stomach, playing with the sparse hair there, eliciting an electric jolt within Caleb that splits at the point of contact, rushing to both his heart and his groin. Love and lust, he thinks, beautifully combined in a sea of rough sheets and smooth skin.

“Caleb,” Molly whispers, and it’s only been a few minutes but Caleb hears that distinct lilt in Molly’s voice that suggests he’s growing impatient.

“Patience, libeling,” Caleb whispers as he shifts to press a delicate kiss to Molly’s lips. “I want to study you thoroughly.”

He feels a breath escape Molly, and whether it’s an indignant huff or a gasp at his words, Caleb isn’t sure. “I’m not a book, Caleb.”

The former, then.

“No,” Caleb agrees, and another kiss is placed on Molly’s lips. “You are much more important. I devour books; I want to indulge in you.”

Kisses pepper Molly’s cheek, down to his throat as the tiefling breathes, “You can devour me, too, you know. I don’t mind. I encourage it, even.”

Caleb kisses lower, lingering there to kiss a bruise on lavender skin. “Next time,” he allows. “Allow me this first, though. It has been too long without you, and I would like to reacquaint myself with every inch of you. And that deserves a thorough attention to detail; you are more to me than a quick study.”

Molly’s reply is a shaky, and Caleb feels the vibration of Molly’s words as his lips continue to press soft and slow kisses to the column of Molly’s throat. “Take your time then. I’m quite content where I am.”

In lieu of a response, Caleb rises up and works to pull off Molly’s shirt, tossing it to the floor carelessly. He repeats his kiss over Molly’s throat, then down to his collarbone where he nibbles playfully before moving lower, tongue and lips and teeth leaving a trail of goose flesh over Molly’s body as he works his way downward. Molly spasms, laughing as the sensation tickles him. He clings to Caleb, fighting the impulse to pull away from the overwhelming sensation and instead pulls Caleb closer. The wizard obliges, offering a few more ticklish nips before moving further down his path. He stops at Molly’s chest, nose nuzzling the large mangled mess of a scar that paints Molly’s chest. Caleb closes his eyes, recalls seeing that beautiful lavender skin stained red with blood, and his eyes snap open to look up and see a different shade of red, this one bright and full of life. Molly’s gaze softens in understanding.

“I’m here, darling,” he whispers as he catches Caleb’s hand and moves it over his heart. Caleb feels the fast-paced tempo beating lively under Molly’s skin, and he lets out a tremble as he leans down to press a kiss above the pulse of life in Molly’s breast.

“I know,” Caleb replies after a long moment. “But for so long you weren’t.”

“That’s in the past,” Molly says, cupping Caleb’s chin and lifting the man’s gaze to meet his own. “I’m here now. I don’t want to dwell on the time I missed. I want to make new memories with everyone. You especially.”

Their lips meet, soft and gentle, a mere pressing together than a true kiss, but it satisfies Caleb when he eventually pulls away, and he can’t help but smile softly as his thumb caresses Molly’s lips.

Molly lets him for several seconds before catching Caleb’s thumb between sharp teeth, nibbling on it playfully, shocking a laugh out of the wizard. Caleb pulls his hand back and taps Molly lightly on the nose. “Behave,” he admonishes, but there’s no sting to the word. Only adoration.

“I’m on my best behavior,” Molly says, then leans up to catch Caleb’s lips with his. Caleb melts into the kiss, relishing the softness of Molly’s lips against his own; the sharp contrast of teeth nibbling on his bottom lip before Molly’s warm and wet tongue soothes the sting. It’s a playful kiss meant to stir up, and Caleb shifts against his lover accordingly.

“You are distracting me from my studies,” he murmurs against Molly, breaking the kiss to press small wet kisses to Molly’s jawline, throat, and collarbone once more. “Now I have to retrace my steps.”

“What a shame,” Molly drawls, not meaning a word. He laughs softly as Caleb playfully nips at him, then the sound shifts to a gasp as Caleb repeats the gesture on his nipple, hand sliding up to tease the other.

“Oh!”

Caleb hums in approval as he continues his ministrations, taking his time with one nipple before kissing a path across Molly’s chest, lingering once more over the long scar, painting over the slightly discolored flesh with love and affection before he takes the other nipple in his mouth, causing Molly’s breath to catch in the most beautiful of ways. Beneath his hand, Caleb can feel Molly’s heart flutter then speed up, and he moves to press kisses against Molly’s skin in time with the frantic beat- small, quick kisses fluttering over Molly’s chest and scar and down his stomach to taut muscles and a flurry of color that wraps around his sides and disappears under the waistband of his leggings. His hands follow his lips, touches feather light as they trace the intricate patterns that paint Molly’s skin.

“You,” Molly manages to say, voice hitching in pleasure, “Are a damned tease, Mr. Caleb.”

The kisses and caresses stop at that, and Caleb sits up slowly, staring at Molly for a long moment before moving over him, placing his arms on either side of Molly’s head, and leaning down until they are nose to nose.

“Teasing,” he says softly, accent thicker from his own growing state of need, “Would imply that I do not intend to follow through with what I’ve started.” He leans down and presses a seething kiss to Molly’s lips, pulling back before Molly can properly respond, “And I fully intend to follow through with you, Mr. Mollymauk.” With that, he shifts his hips against Molly’s, causing the tiefling to groan at the sensation.

“Gods above Caleb!”

Caleb feels a small sense of satisfaction at Molly’s response and repeats the movement. It comes back to bite him though, for a groan escapes him this time, and through the haze of arousal in Molly’s eyes, Caleb recognizes a brief flash of humor at what he’s just done.

He resists the urge to simply rut against Molly, glorious though those two small movements felt, and instead reaches to yank off his own shirt, tossing it away and leaning over until they are pressed chest to chest. Molly sighs, satisfied, and wraps his tail around Caleb’s waist to keep him close.

“Now we’re getting somewhere.”

For the third time, Caleb kisses his way down Molly’s body, and just like his favorite book, Caleb discovers that through each read-through, there is something new to be found; a new delight to uncover.

This time he kisses along Molly’s tattoos. Red eyes and peacocks, snakes and flowers guide his path down Molly’s body, and Caleb busies himself in a small game, kissing all the red parts of the tattoos first. Then he kisses and laves his tongue against the green, and nips at the yellow and blue. He catalogues which causes which response from Molly, files it away for future use.

Molly’s tail loosens as he slides down the tiefling’s body, the spearhead tip lightly trailing over Caleb’s back as Caleb’s lips brush over Molly’s bellybutton. He lightly tickles his fingers over Molly’s sides, before he catches the band of Molly’s leggings and slowly pulls them down.

Molly’s cock springs free from the restraints of his pants and above him, Caleb hears the tiefling groan at the release, his tail thumping eagerly against the bed. At a certain point Caleb cannot move his pants further lest he remove himself from Molly’s person, but Caleb hardly sees the worth in that at the moment, so he merely stops and runs his hands over Molly’s thighs, lightly touching and teasing everywhere but where it’s clear Molly wants to be touched.

Caleb’s own arousal is beginning to distract him, but he’s determined to be a good student this night, and so he tries not to think about how easy it would be to simply grind downward until they both come in a frantic and messy affair, and instead focuses on studying the little sighs and moans and twitches that signal Molly’s growing pleasure.

He leans forward again and kisses Molly, then, though it pains him to do so, skims over the middle parts of his favorite book and latches onto the climax of the story. Molly moans as he feels lips and tongue cover him, and he tilts his head to watch as Caleb swallows him, head bobbing slowly up and down as his hand moves to caress his thighs, sides, balls.

Molly moans Caleb’s name, hand moving down to catch in the tangles of Caleb’s hair. “Gods, Caleb,” he gasps, losing himself in the feeling of being wrapped up in the warmth of Caleb’s mouth.

True to form, Caleb takes his time here too. Slow and steady movements create a tightly-wound tension, and he can feel Molly’s hips threatening to thrust upward, a testament to the last threads of his control. Caleb’s lips slide off him, only to be replaced by his tongue, licking long, slow stripes up Molly’s cock before sheathing him inside his mouth once more. Molly practically cries at the sensation, and Caleb makes a mental note, as he does with every twitch and tremor that escapes Molly. Every sigh and moan is catalogued and stored in Caleb’s perfect memory, an encyclopedia of moments so perfectly sensual that to draw them out at any other time would be a risk to Caleb’s carefully curated control.

Molly’s tail wraps around Caleb’s leg as his hand tightens in Caleb’s hair as the wizard hollows his cheeks and sucks, and the delicious feeling of his hair being ever so slightly pulled is filed away as well. It seems he can learn about more than just his lover this night.

Caleb continues, slow and gentle, teasing kisses and touches peppered throughout to shake Molly from his near delirious state of arousal. Caleb knows the tale-tell signal of Molly being close. His thighs tremble and he murmurs in Infernal, and his head tilts to the left. Just as the thought crosses his mind, Caleb feels the tremble, hears the Infernal, and looks up to see Molly’s head tilt just so.

Caleb stops; Molly lets out a desperate, broken whine, and curses at Caleb in Infernal before managing to return to Common.

“You utter bastard! Why did you stop?!”

Caleb crawls back up Molly’s body, pressing a mix of light kisses and scathing marks that will leave even more bruises on his lover’s flesh. When he reaches Molly’s lips once more, he can’t resist the urge to grind down against the tiefling, and their moans escape and mingle in the air between them.

“I am not anywhere near close to being through with you,” Caleb whispers, surprised by the urgency in his tone. “My intention tonight is to take-“ he presses a kiss to Molly’s lips-

“My.” He pinches a nipple-

“Time.” Another thrust; another shared moan of pleasure.

“Unless you have other plans this evening?”

Breathless, a small laugh escapes Molly. “My only plans for this evening involve being fucked out of my mind by a certain handsome wizard,” he says with as much suavity as he can muster.

It’s on the tip of Caleb’s tongue to make some scathing remark about Molly having to settle for him instead of a handsome wizard, but he knows that his lover won’t appreciate the sentiment. Molly loves Caleb, and therefore expects everyone- Caleb included- to treat the wizard kindly. It’s no issue for the rest of the group, but Caleb finds it hard to remember to be kind to himself.

But tonight it’s easy, as distracted as he is with how wonderful it feels to be pressed against Molly, nothing to hinder his exploration of his tiefling lover except for the tiefling himself.

“Interesting,” he says instead. “I have plans to fuck a certain tiefling out of his mind.”

Molly smirks and wraps his arms and tail around Caleb’s waist and pulls the wizard down to grind against one another again. “What a coincidence.”

A sharp exhale escapes Caleb at the sharp jolt of pleasure that shoots through him, and after he takes a moment to get himself under control, rolls off of Molly- ignoring the whine that comes with such a move- to undo the ties of his own trousers, kicking them off before turning to do the same to Molly, only to find the tiefling has beaten him to it.

With a grin, he returns to his position straddling the tiefling’s hips, and leans forward, pressing a scorching kiss to Molly’s lips as his hand finds Molly’s cock and gives it a quick tug.

Molly moans into Caleb’s mouth, hands coming up to cup the wizard’s face, blunted talons caressing the scruff of facial hair that covers Caleb’s cheeks.

“You are driving me to distraction,” Caleb whispers in between increasingly heated kisses. They continue kissing in ever-growing desperation. Molly moans against him, pressing his hips up to meet Caleb’s as Caleb clings to Molly, his mouth covers the tiefling’s lips, hot and wet and needy.

“Gods above how I want you,” he confesses after breaking away some time later. “I do not deserve you but-“

He’s silenced with another kiss.

“None of that,” Molly chastises, one hand sliding down the boney expanse of Caleb’s back until he cups his arse and squeezes, delighting in how Caleb’s eyes slide shut in delight before shooting open to look at him. “There’s no place for that here. I wouldn’t let someone in my bed if I believed they weren’t some kind of decent; and correct me if I’m wrong my darling boy, but you are, in fact, in my bed. There must be a reason for that, hmm?”

“Must be,” Caleb relents, and he makes a note of how utterly wonderful being called Molly’s darling boy feels. When he meets Molly’s gaze, he can see that Molly is making a study of him as well and has come to the same conclusion. Caleb flushes- after everything they’ve done together this night (and in nights previous) this is what makes him flush- and he ducks down to kiss Molly once more.

He’s addicted to the taste and feel of Molly’s lips, and he takes his time exploring Molly’s mouth, reveling in the small hums and gasps and sighs he elicits from his lover. Loves how thoroughly Molly kisses him in return, as if he’s trying to reach Caleb’s very soul, and he shifts against Molly without much thought, and they break the kiss as they both cry out, the friction growing more and more tempting with each thrust.

Caleb sits back up, fingers sliding over Molly’s lips once more and down his chest to where their cocks rest together. Catching them both in his hand, Caleb uses his thumb to smear thesmall pearl of pre-cum on Molly’s tip and ever so gently moves his hand up and down. He pushes down his own desire to jerk in response as he watches Molly, who throws his head back on the pillow and groans, “Fuck me, Caleb!”

That’s an idea.

The small vial of oil needed for such a task is only just out of reach on the nightstand, but in that moment it might as well be half a world away. Caleb sighs as he moves, and he has to let go of them in order to reach the vial. He sees Molly swallow a moan of disappointment as he realizes what Caleb is going for, and he shifts expectantly instead. 

Caleb raises a brow. “Can I help you?” He asks as he settles back over Molly.

Molly glares and nudges his hips upwards a little. “I certainly hope so.”

Caleb can’t help but offer Molly a small smile, then he moves off Molly and instructs Molly to shift as well. He does so eagerly, and once he’s repositioned and Caleb has covered his fingers with oil, he reaches down, and as he places a kiss to Molly’s lips, begins to tease him with the same methodical attentiveness that he’d given the rest of him. Molly practically purrs at the sensation of Caleb’s finger inside him, unable to keep from squirming as Caleb moves within him.

“My, but those fingers of yours are magical,” Molly remarks, a gasp of pleasure escaping him immediately after.

He glances up to see Caleb roll his eyes. “You are the worst.” His finger moves a little quicker, and a second one is added before Molly can reply. He throws his hand outward, looking for anything to grab hold of, and turns his head so that he’s closer to Caleb. 

“S’true,” he moans, pressing down against the upward thrust. “Gods above, Caleb, please!”

Molly is silenced once more by a kiss, and a pair of groans spill out into the air between them.

This is where Caleb finds it easiest to focus. In the moments between the control of getting Mollymauk worked up and the satisfaction of finally joining with him, Caleb is acutely aware of everything: the feeling of his own want throbbing between his legs, the breathy moans and insistent writhing of Molly, the feeling of warmth and anticipation as Caleb readies his lover. The smell of sex in the air. The way Molly’s breath hitches and he begins to whisper all sorts of dirty, needy things to the wizard, a mix of Common and Infernal of all the ways he’s going to take Caleb apart next time. The lovely chill that goes down Caleb’s spine as he can practically feel phantom kisses along the boney expanse of his back. The way Molly wraps his hand around Caleb’s wrist in a half-crazed effort to keep him inside, begging for more.

Caleb wants to give him everything.

Finally, after Molly’s patience has worn as thin as Caleb’s threadbare coat, Caleb covers himself with the oil and slowly slides home. This is his favorite part, he thinks, as Molly’s eyes shut in bliss at finally, finally, having Caleb where he belongs. There’s an exhale of complete satisfaction even as his body protests with a cry for ‘more!’ and Caleb can’t help but shiver at how right it feels, how absolutely and entirely right it feels to be buried within Molly, to have him so close, to be a part of him, even for only a moment. Every sensation is heightened to the point of battling for Caleb’s attention: the pleasure and warmth and need and love. He presses his lips to Molly’s in a sloppy, heated kiss and ever so slowly pulls out before thrusting back in.

Caleb swallows Molly’s cry, and submits the taste of mulled wine and cinnamon pastries to memory. They’d been treated to baked goods earlier by Jester, and the sweetness pairs beautifully with the taste that is distinctly Molly.

Hands press against Caleb’s arse and pull him closer in a hard tug, and a shuddering groan slips from Caleb this time, causing Molly to laugh.

Caleb thrusts again in response, harder and sharper than what Molly had managed to pull from him, and Caleb can’t help but feel a swell of pride as a choked sob escapes Molly.

“Gods, Caleb, ple-please!”

“All in good time, mein leibling,” he whispers, slowing his thrusts with a tremble that Molly doesn’t miss. “I want to savor you.”

Molly shifts and pulls Caleb closer, small sighs and moans slipping from him as Caleb moves soft and slow and deep within him. He clings to him, foreheads pressed together as they move in tandem.

“Gods I love you,” Molly whispers hotly after a few moments of silence, when it’s either spill love from his lips or succumb to Caleb’s attentions. “I love you so much, you wicked, wonderful man.”

“Ich liebe dich,” Caleb murmurs in between another kiss. He’s addicted to Molly’s lips, tantalizingly sweet and tempting, and every moment they have alone it takes all of Caleb’s control not to grab Molly and kiss him for all he’s worth. “I love you,” he repeats in Common. “I love you, I love you.”

Hands slide over skin until they cup Caleb’s cheeks, guiding his face down for yet another kiss. If Caleb is addicted to Molly’s lips, Molly is a pure glutton, and his mouth once more sears against Caleb’s, sloppy and careless but full of love and desire.

It’s as if they’re both trying to make up for lost time. To take as much as the other will give, because the next day is not guaranteed. They are not promised a future, so they pour out everything now, every ounce of love and devotion and desire they feel for the other, they lay it out and revel in it.

Caleb stills after a moment, slowly pulling out and causing both of them to groan in lament of the loss of closeness. Before Molly can voice his complaint however, Caleb rolls onto his back and tugs at Molly to sit astride him, something Molly does with great happiness. He sinks down onto Caleb slow and steady, and it’s even better than before, the feeling of warmth and fullness that threatens to consume them both.

Molly glances down at his lover with a smirk that might have been more confident if he didn’t look so utterly wrecked. Molly’s hair is a disheveled mess, his skin is blotted with hickeys and lovebites, his lips are swollen and bruised, his eyes are nearly glossed over from how desperately aroused he is. He shifts gently, but even the small movement is enough to elicit a startled gasp as pleasure shoots through him, and Caleb is momentarily grateful for his accursedly good memory- this is the image of Molly he wants in the forefront of his mind always. Debauched, desperate, and absurdly beautiful.

He slides up, and then down, as slowly and methodically as Caleb had been, but now Caleb is beginning to feel impatient, and he thrusts up as best he can. Molly lets out a breathless laugh.

“Turnabout’s fair play, my darling boy,” he says, and Caleb’s hands latch onto Molly’s hips, grinding him down over him.

“You’re doing that on purpose,” Caleb groans as pleasure begins to overrun his composure like rapidly growing vines. He’s losing focus, losing himself to the feeling of Molly surrounding him, and if this is how it feels to drown, he hopes he succumbs to the waves.

“What?” Molly huffs as he begins moving more, “Calling you darling boy because I know how much it turns you on? I would never exploit such a weakness.” He lifts up and sinks down again sharply, and Caleb can’t bite back the sound that leaves him.

“Liar,” he pants.

Molly continues rocking and moving, head tilting back in a moment of pure abandon before he composes himself and leans forward and whispers, “Come on, Caleb. Be a good boy and come for me.”

“Oh, Scheisse!” Caleb curses. In retaliation he reaches out and wraps his hand around Molly’s cock, and Molly gasps and any other clever words die on his tongue.

They work in tandem, chasing their own pleasure while trying to surge the other towards theirs, and after several moments of breathlessness, in the lingering abyss between desperation and satisfaction, they find their release; Molly first with Caleb following immediately after. Panting and drained, Molly moves off of Caleb and falls to the side.

Caleb takes a moment to catch his breath, to revel the fall from such a beautiful height. Then slowly he stands and wets a rag before returning and cleaning them up. For all that he is ambivalent regarding bathes and general hygiene, Molly finds it hysterically endearing that Caleb insists on cleaning them up before post-coital cuddles. Not that he’ll complain. It’s just a few more moments of pampering.

When he’s finished, Caleb tosses the rag aside and slides into Molly’s waiting embrace. The tiefling presses a kiss to his forehead, and hums in contentment.

“Well, that was lovely,” he says softly, and feels more than hears Caleb’s laugh in response.

“Do I hear disagreement?” Molly asks, and Caleb shifts to look Molly in the eyes.

“You will hear no disagreement from me,” Caleb replies softly, eyes traveling over Molly’s face, taking in the intricate details as if he hasn’t already committed them to memory time and time again.

“Do I have something on my face?” Molly asks, moving one hand to cover his nose and mouth, a momentary hint of self-consciousness taking him.

“Nein,” Caleb whispers, lifting a hand to remove Molly’s from obscuring his view. “I just want to look at you,” he says softly. “It’s still a little hard to believe you are here.”

Understanding dawns on Molly’s face and he presses closer to Caleb, moving their joined hands to where their chests press together, heartbeats thudding in an off-beat. It’s comforting, Caleb thinks, to feel his heart beat followed by the beat of Molly’s. Out of sync, but beautifully together.

“I’ve been trying not to think about it,” Molly admits. “Best to not question the why or how of it, in my opinion.”

“I’m not questioning it,” Caleb says, squeezing Molly’s hand. “Curious though it is, I can’t find it in me either to care for the how or why. I only care that I have you back.”

_If only I could have been so lucky before_ , he thinks, but does not say. Molly knows about his parents now, everyone in the group does, but it’s still a subject that doesn’t come up easily, so neither of them reach for it, despite how close it sits to the surface of Caleb’s heart.

“I’m glad to be back,” Molly says instead, and he watches Caleb carefully for a moment to ensure that he isn’t about to slip away to a painful memory. When Caleb meets his eyes and offers him a small smile and a kiss to the nose, Molly rests easy.

“The world was much more dull without you,” Caleb whispers. “My bed much colder, my heart more empty.”

“Your dick more lonely,” Molly supplies. Caleb groans and rolls away from Molly.

“I was trying to be sincere,” Caleb gripes. 

Molly crawls over him and presses several kisses to his face. “I’m terribly sorry, my dearest boy. How can I make it up to you?”

Caleb considers for a moment, then inspiration strikes. “I’ve long been curious about how sensitive your tail might be if stimulated during intercourse.”

Molly snorts. “You want to try to get me off by toying with my tail?”

Caleb shrugs. “Are you opposed?”

“To you paying attention to me and getting off in the process?” Molly leans down, tail coming up to drape over Caleb’s hand and delighting when he feels the wizard squeeze experimentally. “My darling, studious boy, I am _all in favor_ of your intellectual pursuits. Especially as they pertain to my pleasure.”

“Well then,” Caleb says as he pushes Molly onto his back and resumes his place straddling him. “I’d better start studying.”


End file.
